54 Spirituality Studies fers from attention that identifies the organic perceptual differentiation of material aggregates, such as color, taste, touch, or sound. These entities may include historical or fictional figures (e.g., Socrates, Diotima, Laozi, Harry Potter), historic, futuristic, or imaginary places or concepts (e.g., the Carthaginian Empire, Atlantis, Heaven, Pegasus), or abstract entities (e.g., London, thirst, the “other”, the “I”). Even when these entities or identities may have physical expressions, awareness at this stage does not identify the immaterial distinct entity with material traits. For example, one does not recognize one’s loved ones by their respiratory system; one recognizes oneself across years despite bodily changes. One may even reject identifying with one’s own face or body and instead identify with a name, icon, avatar, or redesigned appearance. The same applies to one’s sense of “I”, or entities like “clean”, “Laozi”, and even “London”. On a larger scale, families, tribes, or nations identify with immaterial constructs such as icons, narratives, languages, currencies, flags, histories, and heroes, independent of the concrete aggregate of individuals that comprise them at any given point in time. In the earlier phase, identity is bound to physical continuity; in this phase, it is maintained through symbolic, immaterial continuity. To conclude, the second stage of awareness of the meaning of Being is that there are distinct-immaterial entities, first and foremost: the distinct-immaterial “I”. To clarify, the emanation of Being through the Sefirot (the movement both downward and upward within itself) occurs independently of our awareness. Therefore, the pursuit of wisdom involves cultivating the ability to recognize these movements throughout life and remain attentive to them. A higher standard of awareness can redirect its focus to each movement at the appropriate time and place. A lesser form of awareness might focus on a memory byte of past attentions. A lower level of attentiveness may result in a distorted hierarchy of attention, where some aspects of Being are overemphasized and others are underappreciated. The impact and balance of this awareness on one’s life are also measures of wisdom. 5.3 Stage 3. Hod to Netzach The third stage in spiritual development toward wisdom is founded, like all the stages in the model, on all the stages that preceded it, but in particular on opening attention and awareness to the movement of Being’s emanation between Hod (Heb. “Splendor”) and Netzach (Heb. “Eternity/ Victory”). The Hebrew word Netzach (Heb. נצח ) has at least three meanings: “eternity”, “victory”, and, in its passive form, “to be defeated” (Heb. Menutsach – מנוצח ). These meanings shape what unfolds as one deepens awareness of this movement: the recognition of the temporal and limited power to generate and maintain meanings in the world, of all distinct-material and distinct-immaterial entities encountered in the two earlier stages. Everything we experience – objects, places, and even our most cherished people – will eventually pass. What appears “real” is revealed as possessing only a faint degree of reality in comparison to Netzach. Within this awareness, the “I” recognizes itself and all it treasures as tiny, as Menutsach – defeated before true eternity. This means that the distinct inorganic “I”, whether individual or collective, whether it is one’s will or very existence, cannot serve as the source of its meaning, telos, or purpose. If such a meaning exists, its source must be beyond the “I” and the I’s world. This is often a profoundly unsettling revelation accompanied by existential anxiety and depression. Awareness of this movement is of a negative character; it is not a direct encounter with the essence of eternity, but rather a recognition through the limitations of the world we know: language, daily routines, and spatiotemporal beings in general. In this sense, Netzach’s passive meaning (Menutsach) embodies the experience of defeat, of suffering metaphysical loss, and of realizing that what we took to be the entirety of existence is merely a fragile shell, a periphery of something far greater and unknown.
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